TheMichael

I've recently noticed that the phrase "we know" is usually a telltale sign that a statement is pure opinion. 😁 Having taken Medallion and non-Medallion cruises in the past 6 months, I can tell you that the Medallion system is at times downright (to use the Disney crossover phase) Magical. And on the non-Medallion cruise line (which was a very good line otherwise) I was surprised at my new hatred for having to deal with signing a "check" for every bar purchase, even though I had a drink package. 99 times out of 100, technological failures end up being web failures, and I don't think any major cruise line has mastered the art of having online systems. Those systems can and do fail, whether connected to a card, a medallion, or a QR code tattoo. I can't even log in to HAL half the time, and once had to go to Guest Services to have their app reset. The only difference between the Medallion and a "cruise card" is how it's read by the system - it's tracked by RFID points throughout the ship, rather than "swiped" in a machine. Princess, though, uniquely offers features that make use of that fact, which other lines with cards can't. I know where my GF is and can find her. Drinks can be delivered to my pool seat. My stateroom door unlocks without fumbling for something in my pocket. I can order at the bar, and the bartender can then hand me my drink with a simple "I got ya." And 99% of the time (to coin a tech phrase) it just works. Magical.

Dengue is on the rise and is very common in the Caribbean and Central America regions (if you've been to Caribbean countries you may have seen warning posters). Make sure to wear repellent when you're outdoors.

While ships are full and cruise lines are making record profits, this will never change. Cutbacks help the stock price, ships are still full with more onboard spend per passenger, shareholders (including executives) are happy with the results. The cruising public's only "answer" right now is to change cruise lines. People get PO'ed at Carnival, they go to Royal. People get upset at Royal, they go to Celebrity. People swear off Celebrity, they go to Princess. Merry-go-round that only benefits the companies. The only answer is to stop cruising for a while. Take your vacations using other means. Do it while there's not a recession, not a worldwide virus issue or terrorist problem, so the cruise lines can only look at themselves. I don't think that will happen.

We loved that dessert on our Alaska trip - the interior was in fact Cherry Garcia ice cream, which has fudge and cherries mixed in. The only problem for us was that it was super sweet and a bit too big. There was plenty of ice cream in ours, but perhaps they’ve started making them smaller.

I'm taxing my brain to think of any way it would be possible to spend $300 to get from Yokohama to Narita. Certainly not trains nor limousine bus. Perhaps he was thinking of taxi fare - cabs aren't cheap - but I can't think of why he'd recommend a taxi when there are multiple cheaper alternatives. The Narita Express from Yokohama will only cost you around $40 for the basic fare and $60 for first class.

60 reviews is certainly sufficient to suggest a trend. It really isn't necessary to compare to other cruise lines' recent reviews, except to see if the trend also applies to those other lines. Nor is the fact that it's a small sample compared to the whole universe particularly troublesome, if the reviews adhere to the previous "cruiser profile" of generally first-time cruisers. However, it might be important to see if there are indications in those reviews that that trend has changed (for example, "in the past, Celebrity..." or "my previous trip..." or "...suddenly changed..."). It will be interesting to see if the trend continues, as I've been considering Celebrity for a future vacation.

As is your right. Just remember I'm a human being. 😁

If there's one think I had drilled into me before I went to Japan for the first time, it was the need to carry my passport with me at all times. Not only is it required by law, but stores use it to note your purchases for the duty-free allowance.

The men, on the other hand, either don't wash their hands (like 99% of American men - not to get into the logistics of the public men's room, but as in America, it is a bit differently configured than a ladies' room) or just shake and rub briskly. Then again, most of my shared public restroom knowledge comes from Japanese sports stadiums, where behavior may be quite different than that of an office building.

A further observation: it appears the actual discussion of the issue has ended, and we're now into the phase where we discuss the discussion.

Jeez, nobody want to kick him out of his house or refuse him medical care. Save the "he's a human being" for when something actually bad is happening to him. This is in fact one of the most civil arguments I've seen - the person using the most incendiary language had been the OP himself! 99% of the rest of this entire discussion has been people simply disagreeing with his opinion and offering differing experiences - or even telling him that yes, if he's having that horrible an experience, he should look elsewhere for his enjoyment (and then explaining that it isn't simply a matter of walking off the ship). If you think that's "flaming," never ever go to Reddit.

I would say that of that 99%, 99% are not heavy gamblers. Either way, the OP didn't even take on his gambling woes in that OP. It was about "dog food" and a friend's computer glitch problem. And about that - if OP is abandoning ship in San Diego, is he going to leave his friend? Again, we seem to be learning more about the OP than about the ship.

Which cloud service did you use? Most should provide feedback as far as the status of your backup (and if yours doesn't, it should at least have an easy way for you to go see what's there). If you're using some kind of constant backup that uploads to the cloud without action from you, definitely turn that off and instead back up manually when you're in a spotty network area (and most cruise ships are spotty network areas).

Let me help you understand: when you deliver an opinion publicly, you accept that there may be issue taken with that opinion, especially when it is delivered melodramatically ("dog food"). If I give my opinion in a public forum, I expect to receive feedback. That's why people do it in the first place. If OP didn't want reaction, he should have written it down on a piece of paper and mailed it to himself, not publish it on the most-read cruise message board. I also think the reaction comes from the fact that 99% of the people reading his diatribe would trade places with him in an instant. Free Panama Canal transit on even an average HAL ship? Yes, please! There comes a point when someone who overdramatizes issues starts telling people more about themselves than about their trip.

As a longtime stuff-in-cartons buyer, I think you'll find the stuff-in-cartons is in fact real eggs, with maybe a little extra coloring and a tiny bit of preservative. That's common even at some nicer hotels. The texture and taste of the omelette is fine - and an omelette should have the yolks and whites blended well, so it's a step saved that would otherwise slow the line considerably. The big bowl of scrambled eggs out there, though...that's a bit texturally suspect.

Japan is like the bellwether for population decline in developed countries - we're getting close in the US alone to equal birth and death rates (I think it's a birth every 9 seconds and a death every 11) and our average age keeps rising (now almost 10 years older than it was in 1980). The "Japan is crazy" trope is kind of annoying, and I think it even makes people here (US) see things that make sense (to me at least) like cleaning up after themselves at the World Cup (which is something they always do, and actually easy as hell when you don't just drop all your trash on the ground in the first place) as somehow odd. I'm from Seattle too, and the Northwest (Vancouver to a much greater degree) is a great place to learn and appreciate Asian cultures. Plus, I can get better sushi here than I had when I was in Tokyo.

As another casino comp on HAL (Alaska 3 weeks ago), I was completely satisfied with the food and service (the service was EXCEPTIONAL - MDR food came out like clockwork, our stewards bent over backwards, and Guest Relations even managed to solve an app issue on their own, with smiles on their faces). Chicken and waffle was good, cheese was nice and tangy (and as a Seattle resident I've always found Beecher's a little bland - maybe it was too tangy for OP?), and buffet scrambled eggs were cruise line buffet scrambled eggs, just like Princess, just like Royal - which is why I always got an omelet. My only real quibble with HAL was the older clientele and less variety in entertainment on the ship, but I just love to relax in a nice bar, and they had more than enough of those. It was a trip I'd take again without thinking twice. Did I mention this was all a COMP? Gold MGM status and an email got me an offer in 15 minutes. I'm not a big wheel, it was a super-nice offer. Two DAYS of room and all the food you can eat at a decent Vegas hotel wouldn't leave you with much of that $860 left. (BTW, I have a few stories about being given a room at nice Vegas hotels and either walking in on someone or having someone walk in on me. it happens.) Here's an important thing to remember if you're served something that looks bad - TELL YOUR SERVER, THEY WILL FIX IT. There's ZERO reason OP had to come here and tell us they were forced to eat "dog food." Their kitchen can fry another piece of chicken and cook another damn waffle. they won't even blink. All my life, I've sent stuff back 100% of the time when it isn't what it should be. I do it nicely, and nobody feels bad. Even the room issue - computers have glitches, sometimes even big ones (that somehow cause two unrelated people to both have their names in the room and on the app, despite only being able to see their own...?). Go fix, and you might get an upgrade in the process. It's a hassle, but you're already on the ship. There's no reason anyone should be crying. There's no point in taking bad vibes on a vacation. When you have a problem, get it fixed with a frickin' smile - it's a VACATION problem.

Interesting - did he mention that while the problem has become acute in Japan, birth rates are declining around the world? Or touch on Japan's unwillingness to allow guest workers? (The "freedom of single life" part always kills me in a time when women in the "Western world" are basically expected - and often financially required, even when married - to work. Doesn't seem all that "free" to me.)

Sense of humor noted.

Fortunately, I live in a state where I'm allowed to access my records online and even save a digital card in my phone's wallet that will update as I get new boosters. Even easier than the paper card. Restrictions end, and they sometimes begin again when events warrant, and I would be pretty wary of believing in the updated-ness of a website from a country that might not have a robust internet team. And you're not going to be able to just show up at the border and get in because "your website says..." World travelers have to get a lot more vaccinations than just Covid to get to all the places they want to go - at some point, one has to decide if they want to see the world or uphold their political beliefs.

Selfishly, as a completely ambulatory person who likes to walk a lot on ships, I was happy that the coffee was in the most out-of-the-way place it could be, as it kept the lines down. (I have recurring nightmares about Princess’ International Cafe lines.)

We had about 10 toddler-to-elementary kids on our sailing. How did I count them? They were all in the hot tubs.

OMG One person had a HORRIBLE time, therefore cruise line is AWFUL! Also, I'm all ears as to how Princess would prevent wheezing/coughing people from getting on the ship. I cruised on Princess this year, the ship was NEW and the food was GREAT. Service was prompt and the food was always an appropriate temperature. The ship was at capacity, but we expected the ship to be at capacity. We used the Plus package because we drink just a few drinks a day, plus a few espressos, so it saved us money. We didn't catch Covid, Because we wore masks in areas that were crowded for extended periods, moved away from people we could hear coughing or sneezing, and avoided big lines. But it's a big ship and passengers with symptoms don't want to cancel their vacations or even wear masks, and other passengers are kind of in denial that it's going around again, so it stands to reason someone's going to catch it.

It sounds like the same band that was onboard a couple of weeks ago - they were great musicians, but at the time it seemed like they were just learning the songs. They've probably had enough time to get a lot tighter since then. While not aft (kind of midship), on the first night of our cruise there were regular "whomps" that seemed like big waves hitting the ship. Pretty much everything else that could creak or bump creaked and bumped (we were on deck 4 with the "lifeboat view" which didn't help matters). We were really tossing, but that didn't keep me awake - it was all the noise.

The difference is United loses luggage all the time, without much needle-moving coverage (can personally confirm). It was breaking the guitar of someone with a platform to go viral on that caused their "black eye." If the news channels haven't already spread video of the floating luggage, it's not going to happen, and even if it does, the fact that it was on Cunard will be the last thing they'll consider emphasizing. They'll likely say it was the Queen Mary II, viewers will all have a chuckle over "rich folks losing their ballgowns," and the world will move on.